Write a paragraph on 'Karnaphuli Tunnel' by answering the following questions.

Karnaphuli Tunnel

• What is Karnaphuli Tunnel? (কর্ণফুলি টানেল কী?)
• Describe in brief about its shape. (এর আকৃতি সংক্ষেপে বর্ণনা করো।)
• Who constructed it? (কে/কারা এটা নির্মাণ করেন?)
• When did the construction start? (এর নির্মাণ কাজ কখন শুরু হয়েছিলো?)
• What are the benefits expected from it? (এর থেকে কী কী সুবিধা আশা করা হয়?)

Karnaphuli Tunnel, popularly known as Bangabandhu Tunnel, is a groundbreaking infrastructure project in Chattogram, Bangladesh. It is the first underwater road tunnel in South Asia. It is built at a depth of 18 to 31 metres under the Karnaphuli. The main tunnel is 3.32 km long. The length of its two tubes, with two lanes in each tube is 2.45 km. The tunnel also has a 5.35 km connecting road at western and eastern ends and 727 metre flyover at the Anwara end. The tunnel diameter is 10.80 metres (35.4 ft). It is expected, over 17,000 vehicles will be able to use this tunnel daily. The cost of the project is estimated at US$ 1.1 B. It is expected to improve the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway network. A Chinese company was selected to construct it. On Saturday 28 October 2023, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Karnaphuli Tunnel and it was made available for traffic from 6 am the next day. It will speed up communication between Dhaka and Chattogram. It is hoped that this tunnel will increase our national GDP by 0.17%. For this tunnel, the distance between Cox's Bazar and Chattogram will decrease by 40 km. After opening this tunnel more than 63,00,000 vehicle will use this tunnel to cross the Karnaphuli river. This means that over 16,000 vehicles pass through this tunnel every day. After all, it will make a huge contribution to the development of our economy.